Dear Friends,

We want to praise the Lord for His protection throughout the two busy weeks of Vacation Bible Schools, which were held in 4 places here in Cambodia.

In Proverbs 9:9 says, "Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning".

It is really important to teach those like our FMC young people from our churches who joined the VBS training and then went to the field in order to teach the Bible.  It really takes a lot of energy and patience to teach children, but we all enjoyed hearing from them how they now know about God who created the heavens and the earth.   They not only know about God's creation, but many accepted Jesus as their personal Savior through prayer. It really touches my heart when they sing, "Preah Yeh-so srawlaan nayek nung knyom" - Jesus loves me and you. They always sing that song.  It also really melted my heart when they sang the song in Khmer, "With Christ in my vessel I can smile at the storm."   As they go "sailing, sailing home," we hope they will become instruments to lead their parents to Christ. 

God was really good to us, although the weather didn't cooperate.  The children enjoyed coming to the classes even when they were already wet because of the heavy rain.   The VBSs were held in Svay Chur with 120 children, Phnom Penh Thmei with 70 children, Coconut Village with 179 children, Kampot with 85 children, and Kampong Cham with 85 children. Kaoh Ksachtunlea East and West are having their VBSs this week  for 2 days and a half each.

We want to thank the Snohomish team and ladies from Hong Kong who contributed so much in teaching handcrafts and leading games, along with our daughter, Maeve.  She said she enjoyed teaching the children and asking questions about the lessons through an interpreter.

The puppets used were made by the local Cambodian teachers, and they did a good job.  They used the puppets to review the Bible stories and ask questions about what they have studied from the Bible. Although the teachers said that it was very tiring, they really enjoyed teaching the children.  You would be happy to see the children smile as they got rewards for Bible quizzing, and to see how much they appreciate any little thing that they received.  That's how children are! They are really very sincere and interested in coming to the classes. 

Some teachers ended up with sore throats because there was no electricity for microphones or lights!  With 179 children in one place, that's really a big crowd to talk to.  We had 46 teachers and divided them into four groups, one for each place. In each place we had one local director to manage the 2-1/2 days.   This took a lot of preparation and meetings before we went to the field.

But we praise the Lord for His protection and for giving us good health and the strength to go to two places in a row (6 days straight!). 

In Coconut Village, we stayed 3 nights without electricity in the house, having to use flashlights. We were able to have the VBS in the government school!   Neighbors asked how we were able to get a permit to use the school when in fact we are Christians.  We  explained that it is really God's plan and He directed us to talk to the people in charge, whom we don't know at the very beginning.

We had to walk on the edges of the rice paddies to get places, due to heavy rain and the road being impassable and very muddy. We had to walk barefooted.  Several times we slid in the mud, but we just thanked the Lord for the rain because the farmers were happily able to plant rice.

We really praise the Lord for the great things He has done on every place we went.  The house in which we were spent the nights in Coconut Village is owned by a lady who is not a Christian, but who offered her house for us to stay in.  She is the mother of our landlord in Phnom Penh.   We had never met her, but we went and asked if we could stay in her house and she agreed.  PTL! Although her house was a bit far from the school where we held the VBS, we enjoyed walking the 1-1/2 km.  The children often came to the house where we stayed and called out for the teachers.

Our pastors' meeting last week was really good! We were able to know how to pray for each other and for every church.  Also the pastors were able to share their feelings and problems, reconcile the unstable relationships among them,  and say "Please forgive me."  Joel and I were so happy to listen to them and have prayer with them.  Each Pastor had a chance to share his praises and also prayer requests.  After the meeting we ate together.  Joel and I are so happy that the pastors and leaders now know how to share their emotions and feelings.  Five years ago they were unwilling to share such things in front of everybody.

Last month, Brother Nop Sokha was able to teach all the local FMC treasurers, ushers, pastors and leaders how to do very simple bookkeeping and how to do a financial report.  He did a great job.  Nop Sokha is our lay pastor at Phnom Penh FMC, who works for an NGO during weekdays.  God is really great!

We want to praise the Lord for answering our prayers so that Jamson and Kitty are willing to  handle the university students in the boys' dorm, as our dorm parents for one year.

Our family was happy to celebrate my birthday on the 26th of August with the pastors, leaders and missionary team.  One of the leaders gave us a pig to roast, and we enjoyed eating together. Roasted pig is a Filipino delicacy that we only do during fiestas in the town, special occasions and Christmas in the Philippines. We thanked God for adding another year to my life.

We need your prayers for the coming months because the Wilkins and Davis Lam are going on Home Assignment:  Davis for 3 months and the Wilkins for 9 months. Only Rebecca and Miu-ling and the two of us are left to hold the posts in Cambodia.  Of course, this is with the help of our almighty GOD.

We cannot stay here in Cambodia longer if you are not praying us, your missionaries. Please also pray for Phnom Penh Church because Joel is now working as the supervisor of the church after Pastor Daniel left in July to work in an NGO.

Prayer Requests,

• for the pastors and leaders in the field.
• for our daughter's license exam- in June next year
• for Davis Lam and Wilkins as they leave for home assignment
• for Miu-ling, who is now in Hong Kong for medical treatment but coming back next week
• for church planters' enthusiasm
• that God will help Joel as he teaches about church polity for 3 Saturdays in Sept. to the pastors and laymen.
• that all the churches will grow more spiritually and numerically.
• for Rebecca as our mission treasurer.
• for the children that came to our VBSs that they will grow more spiritually - they need follow up.
• for the university students' spiritual growth
• for Grace teaching TEE to the university students once a week.
• that the FM youth will become mature in spiritual things.
• that FM women will have the burden to evangelize other women.
• for more wisdom from God for the missionaries and pastors.
• for dedication and commitment among our pastors and leaders in the ministry.
• for God's protection over the missionaries and pastors
• for Reaksmei and other development projects.
• for strength and wisdom for Joel
• for Helen, a Filipina missionary raising support to come to Cambodia

Warmest Blessings from the field of Cambodia,
Grace and Joel